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iPad Pro Is the Base iPad Pro 11 M1 worth it over the iPad Air 5?

Is the base iPad Pro M1 worth it over the iPad Air 5?

  • Yes

    Votes: 58 86.6%

  • No

    Votes: 9 13.4%
  • Total voters
    67
G

gregpod9

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 27, 2007
307
91
I recently bought the iPad Pro 11 M1 128 GB over the iPad Air 5 256 GB. I'm now having second thoughts about the purchase. I've been watching YouTube videos and reading comments from them and on this forum. Both places have comments that take either side on which one (entry level iPad Pro 11 vs iPad Air 5 64 GB/256 GB) is a the better buy. It's all about is storage space and colors (Air 5) vs base model iPad Pro 11 features but at a cost of half the storage from the iPad Air 5 256 GB. Also some people said that the iPad Pro 11 will be upgraded within the next couple of months with the M2 CPU that have twice the power from the M1 and that the display will be upgraded to the micro led XDR display like the iPad Pro 12.9 inch.

I just want your honest opinions which one is the better buy. Also if you considered both models, please reply what lead you to purchase one of those models.
 
Apple_Robert said:
No one knows for sure if the iPad Pro 11" will be updated in a few months. And if it is, know one knows for sure what the updates will be.

If all you use the iPad for is surfing the web, email, and occasional videos, get the Air and save some money.
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if that's all one does with an iPad, the iPad 9th gen is more than adequate.

As between the Air and the 11" Pro, for me the 128 GB Pro is the obvious choice because 64 GB is too little and 256 GB is overkill for my purposes. So we're talking a $50 difference from the Air to the Pro for quad speakers, pro motion, faceID, better cameras, thunderbolt, etc. The difference aren't huge, but $50 over the life of an iPad (I keep mine 3+ years) is absolutely nothing.

If you are Ok with 64 GB, or would update either device to 256 GB, it gets a little tougher.
 
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It’s a tough one, with the Air you get double the storage and that stunning blue colour and save $50. With the Pro you get 50% less storage but have the Pro motion screen/slightly better speakers, but boring colours. Everything else is pretty much identical, both devices have exactly the same performance with 8GB RAM.
 
snipr125 said:
It’s a tough one, with the Air you get double the storage and that stunning blue colour and save $50. With the Pro you get 50% less storage but have the Pro motion screen/slightly better speakers, but boring colours. Everything else is pretty much identical, both devices have exactly the same performance with 8GB RAM.
Click to expand...
Don’t forget, the Pro has also thunderbolt for fast transfer to external SSD (faster than Air’s), as part to consider lower storage in Pro.
 
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Dfds said:
For me FaceID, better screen & quad speakers make the Pro worth it, only you can judge what is important to you.
Click to expand...

Yep. Boils down to personal preferences.


darngooddesign said:
I suspect for most people the choice will come down to promotion screen vs double storage.
Click to expand...

For MacRumors users and other techies, sure, ProMotion's a big deal.

For your average person, it likely comes down to budget, FaceID vs TouchID, chassis colors, storage and maybe the speakers, too.
 
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I personally wouldn’t buy the Pro 11 knowing that it is lacking XDR while the 12.9” has it, but I suppose the 11 XDR model would not be positioned so close to the Air anyway.

My preference is power button Touch ID, so that would be another reason to buy the Air for me. I also decided after the Mini 5 colours (needed an upgrade from the iPad 3 at that point, so settled for the copper like Gold) to pass until Rose Gold or Purple came along. It’s a shame the Pro line has gone from having the most colour options to joint least.

For me, the speakers are the Pro feature I’d most like, though I have been trying to avoid 120 HZ in case I notice and like others have said, can’t go back. Can you see the Air in store and see if you can now do without the Promotion, as that might make the decision for you.
 
Isamilis said:
Don’t forget, the Pro has also thunderbolt for fast transfer to external SSD (faster than Air’s), as part to consider lower storage in Pro.
Click to expand...
Based on tests, iPadOS cannot take advantage of 10Gb/s, let alone 40.... That does not mean TB does not have advantages, but speed is not one.
The main advantage is being able to use Thunderbolt only devices (= devices that cannot fall back to USB C) like some monitor or external SSDs.
 
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M1 11” iPad Pro owner here.

Today I would say probably not. But having said that it is not a good time to buy the iPad Pro. If you are on the fence at all then you should wait for the next iteration of the 11” iPad Pro to see what changes.

If $599 is your ceiling though go right ahead - the Air looks great.
 
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I had this dilemma too. I decided to stick with the 256GB Air as for me I felt the additional storage would be more helpful in the long run. I don't want to have to manage storage and felt that 128GB would probably be fine today, but not in a few years and I plan on having this thing a long time.
For me my thinking was:
- The 256GB Air was cheaper than the 11 Pro / 128 as Costco already has the new Air discounted.
- Don't care about the additional speakers, I use headphones.
- I use productivity apps and watch video. I don't think 120 Hz will blow me away.
- Def don't care about Thunderbolt. I may connect a monitor, but not a high end one.
- FaceID, yeah, you got me there. That's probably better. But my current iPad doesn't even have TouchID so I'm getting a step up even going with the Air.

I did almost just say f it and get the 12.9" Pro. The larger screen would be worth it for watching video. But then I decided, if i wanted to watch large screen video, i'd just use a laptop. Or the giant 65" TV in my living room that mostly collects dust.
 
For me ProMotion was worth the extra cost alone. FaceID is definitely worthwhile as well, and the extra speakers are a bonus. I ended up going with the 11” Pro 256GB. Yes the update is likely coming this fall, but my old 10.5 Pro was really suffering. Its battery was on its last legs, and the display had multiple hot spots.
 
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I’ve got an iPad Pro 11” 2020 w/ A12Z and I I’d choose this over an M1 iPad Air because of ProMotion and the speakers alone. So if I was looking at the M1 Pro, I’d. say it’s worth the minor difference in cost for the upgrades over the Air.

The M1 is already overkill for what the majority of people do on an iPad. So don’t worry even if there is an M2 version coming.
 
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